Archives

Woman considers a prenup for pups

I am a
nurse by profession, but dogs are my passion. For years
I have raised, bred, trained, and shown Labrador
retriever dogs. Right now I have six Labs each with
champion blood lines.

When one
of my female dogs has a litter, the puppies sell very
quickly. I net enough selling the puppies to cover my
annual costs of breeding and showing the dogs.

Someone recently
suggested that I get a prenuptial agreement signed which
says that, in case of a divorce, I get to keep all the
dogs. I think that might be a good idea since we don't
plan to have children and my fiancé is already
particularly attached to two of my dogs.

Is this something
people do?

F.L., Lexington

A. While it might sound
unusual, or even offensive on some level, signing a
premarital agreement that says, in the event of a
separation or divorce, your husband waives whatever
claims and rights he may have regarding ownership of and
visiting or playing with each and every one of the dogs
is not a bad idea.

Although it is against public policy to try to enforce
an agreement about which parent will end up with the
children, the same is not true of pets, even though many
people consider pets to be their substitute children.

If you
had a contested fight now over who would get the dogs, a
Judge might consider what was in each dog's best
interests. But if the prenup says you get all the dogs
and their equipment, I'd expect that agreement to be
enforced by a Judge.

When preparing your
prenuptial agreement each party must fully disclose all
of your assets, especially those you want to retain as
your separate property in the event of a divorce. So,
you should place a current fair market value on each of
your dogs.

Also disclose how
much it costs you to feed and care for the dogs. List
every expense for dog food, veterinarian, groomers,
kennels, dog sitters, etc. It may be that your fiancé
doesn't know how much it actually costs to have and
properly care for and breed those dogs. So, he may then
want you to pay those expenses.

If you want him to
contribute to the expenses once married, you may not
want to open this can of worms. On the other hand,
unless you get this prenuptial agreement signed, you'll
probably be in for a nasty dog-fight. Woof!

The information contained in this web site is not legal advice; it is for educational purposes only. Use of Wendy Hickey website(s) does not create an attorney/client relationship between you and Wendy Hickey , even if you provide this web site, whether by e-mail or through one of its software programs, with your personal or confidential information. If you are in the process of (or contemplating) a divorce or involved in any legal matter, you should hire a lawyer.